Educators and civil rights groups have attacked Betsy DeVos, the Education Secretary, for saying that schools should be able to choose whether to report undocumented immigrant students and their family members to immigration authorities. DeVos made the comments on Tuesday while testifying in front of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce when asked whether students, who are undocumented immigrants, should be reported to Immigration and Customs Enforcement by teachers and principals.
DeVos replied that she thought it was a decision for the local community, the schools themselves, and that the Committee should clarify any confusion on the issues about both the law and compassion. Her comments were immediately attacked by Representative, Adriano Espaillat, who said that defining immigration policy was not the job of schools.
Espaillat said that immigration law is up to the federal government to decide, not local governments, and that immigration laws should not differ between states. Espaillat was an undocumented immigrant himself. He and his family came to the US when he was nine years old and overstayed their US visa.
DeVos’ remarks were also disputed by immigrant advocates and educators following the hearing, pointing out that a Supreme Court decision from 1982 stated that free public education cannot be denied to any student because of their immigration status and that schools are not allowed to question students or their parents about their status. The National Education Association’s Center for Social Justice Director, Rocío Inclán, said it is illegal for schools to collect such data.